As a graduate of the Colgate teacher education program,
...I am active in the professional community.
During my student teaching at Hamilton Central School, I attended numerous faculty and department meetings, as well as Superintendent's day workshops facilitated by the Public Education and Business Coalition. By integrating myself into the school environment and having open dialogues with other teachers across grades and disciplines, I found that I grew as a teacher. It is also important to me to be an active member of the school community, which I was able to do by attending and participating in these meetings and workshops.
My involvement in the professional community has not just been limited to my student teaching experiences, though. Additionally, I participated in a number of evening seminars with Colgate's Teachers Advisory Council (TAC), having meaningful discussions with master teachers from across grade levels, subjects and the region. I have also been an active member of Thurber Society (Colgate's education society) for three years. Our organization has sponsored several guest speakers and movies about education on-campus, while also arranging for field trips to nearby schools.
In February 2008, I had the incredible opportunity of attending a workshop with famed artist and educator, Tim Rollins. For a little more than two hours, he shared his pedagogy and teaching techniques with a group of teachers, Colgate students and professors, emphasizing the power of understanding through creation. This teaching philosophy, as exemplified by his work with Kids of Survival (KOS) has had a huge impact on many students labeled "at-risk" or "learning disabled." Today, many Tim Rollins + KOS pieces can be found in the collections of prominent museums and art galleries across the world, while his students have gone on to earn doctorates, become teachers, and enter the business world. I adopted Rollin's pedagogy for an elective Sociology lesson, as we learned about Australian aboriginal policy and the Carrolup School of art. Students drew for an entire hour, depicting something of great importance to them, whether a scene out their bedroom window or symbols of their personality. Click on the artwork below to see the products of this Tim Rollins-inspired art session.
I am also a member of the New York State Foundations of Education Association. In April 2008, I attended and presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of NYSFEA. This organization, "dedicated to the development, promotion, and inclusion of courses and programs of instruction in the social foundations of education for the intellectual and moral preparation of school personnel," also serves as the New York State feeder organization for the American Educational Studies Association. Click here to watch the movie I presented at the conference.
Finally, as an intern at the Picker Art Gallery, I have had the opportunity to work with Melissa Davies, my mentor in Museum Education on an Empire State Partnership grant between Colgate University and Hamilton Central School. As part of the grant, I have participated in a training in Visual Thinking Strategies, conducted research on the impact of VTS in kindergarten and first grade classrooms, and spearheaded collaborative programming between the HCS 4th grade team and the Picker Art Gallery about the book, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. In November I also attended a Regional Learning and Leadership Network meeting with other ESP grant participants in the Central New York area.